The invention relates to a coating device for coating a metal strip in a melt of a metal.
Coating devices are used for coating metal strips and sheet metals with zinc, aluminum, tin, lead, galvalum or galfan. In doing so, the metal strip or sheet metal is drawn through a metal melt of the coating metal which is several hundred degrees hot: the metal strip is continuously immersed downward into the metal melt, is deviated upward by a rotating deviating shaft in the metal melt, is steadied by a stabilizing shaft and runs upwards out of the metal melt again. The support of the deviating shaft and/or the stabilizing shaft in the melt is effected in open slide bearings which are configured as wearing bearings. Because of the occurring great radial forces, the high melt temperature and the possibly high chemical aggressiveness of the metal melt, the slide bearings are subject to heavy wear. In a continuously operating coating installation, the slide bearings are worn so heavily even after a few days that they have to be replaced. Each of the slide bearings is formed by a bearing housing and a non-closed bearing bush which is held therein and includes a pair of bearing surfaces. If the pair of bearing surfaces is worn, i.e., if the respective shaft journal has pitted deeply into the two bearing surfaces, the complete bearing bush must be replaced by a new bearing bush. To this end, the shaft journals have to be withdrawn from the bearing housing while the shaft is lifted out of the metal melt. Only then, the worn bearing bushings can be replaced by new bearing bushings. Thus, several hours are required to exchange the two bearings, which is a great cost factor.
It is an object of the invention to extend the service life of a bearing bush.